Logbook: Money
I’ve quit smoking* (part I)
Since Feb 8th I’ve not actually smoked one cigarette. Although, I digress to say that I’ve not quit cold turkey. I’ve done cold turkey quits twice in my life and people say I become Hulk angry when I do. My Cousin had bought in e-cigarette which i was highly skeptical about when I had first seen him with it but, after 1 month it passed what I had called the Timmy test.
At the beginning of the month i had purchased an E-cigarette after watching my cousin and friend use one with no issues with leaving the conventional cigarette behind. when I had received ordered this it was actually February 1st, little did I know I’d end up in the perfect storm of clusterfuck. When I had ordered from Volcano there shipping department had moved so my order was delayed, not only that there shipping computers had crashed. Usually USPS tracking takes a few days to update- You can often receive packages while tracking says otherwise. After stalking the mailman for a week – I started to email support for volcano, to which they will actually find time in there day to reply to you, well to find out my package was like alice in wonderland. Figuring i was in for the long haul I had made a second order. which in the end that was the best thing i could of done with out realizing it.
E-cigarettes are a different experience of sorts but it keeps the feeling the same so to speak. When you have smoked for a long time and a lot of people that fail quitting end up smoking again because of the fact they try to treat the chemical end of smoking without treating the mental end of smoking. If you have smoked and you have quit you’d know what i speak of. if you quit its best to find a bic pen or some other object in your hand to emulate that cigarette or you will be beyond hulk angry and quite possibly rip some walls out.
I’ve put the title as “i’ve quit smoking*” but I used the barry bonds method of scoring here Notice the *. Because to a point i am still getting some level of nicotine, but No fire ,no combustion, no dirty ashtrays , No butts. I am quite happy with this E-cigarette after a rough start from the company I bought it from.
Fun With Teva shoes
In the early half of 2009, I purchased Teva aravalli mens shoes. For years I have worn Teva shoes since Timberland shoe quality went downhill. Now since I do not drive a car, quality of shoes are important to me.
Around Mothers Day in 2009 I purchased these shoes and out of the store they were very comfortable. but, after a month these shoes started to fall apart which aggravated me. The glue to hold the sole together had was very inferior due to the fact that the more you walked the more that the sole separated from the shoe.
After I had returned the first pair I figured that the shoes were a fluke. In june I the second pair and those too fell apart in no time. Since I needed shoes and the older Teva shoes I had some holes in them, the retailer I bought the shoes from did everything in there power to help me out, but to no avail. finally I had emailed Decker shoes the parent company of Teva figuring that i’d get no response. About a week late to my surprise I received an email back
Hi Mike
Thanks for your email. Honestly. We really appreciate you taking some time to connect with us and share your feedback.
First, I’m sorry to hear of your most recent issues with Teva products. You are absolutely correct in your frustration, we definitely owe you a huge apology and a new pair of shoes. I hope you will accept both from me and know that I will help in finding a resolution. Teva prides itself on high performance, quality and, as a sign of our camaraderie, our customer service. I’m sorry to hear we fell short in these department for you.
As you may know, the Aravalli is no longer available in our current line. However, I would be happy to replace your shoes with a pair from our current selection. I would like to offer something like the Riva Leather eVent or the Riva eVent. You can check both out here. If these aren’t exactly what you’re looking for, just let me know if something else stands out.
Once you choose a style, please let me know your size and address for shipping. I’ll go ahead and get these out as soon as possible. Also, for all of your troubles, I would like to also extend an offer for a pair of our Mush flips. I know it’s starting to change seasons but year-around these are a definitely a treat for your feet.
Thanks again Mike for reaching out. We’re glad to hear from you and I apologize again, on behalf of Teva, for your troubles.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
jaime
Jaime Eschette
Teva Public Relations
Goleta, CA
(###) ###-### x1178
please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
After a few email exchanges Teva sent me a pair of Teva Riva Event shoes, These shoes are amazingly comfortable, A little tight at first but after you break in the shoes. they are very light, durable, and weatherproof. I really have to hand it to Teva/Deckers shoes for helping me out and fixing this problem with my shoes. Really as far as shoes go I never thought of Teva for shoes, I used to use Timberlands for shoes but, as there quality went downhill I was happy to find this brand.
EA … Its not in the game anymore and the PC and the $$$$$ (for .99 cents you can buy the letter z in this post)
EA for years has been known for abysmal games of poor quality, although they have improved in some matters but, its really false positive in my mind.
Sure there are a handful of good games from EA as of recently – Crysis, burnout paradise,the sims 3(I guess) *orange box doesn’t count because its a repackage from steam
MovieStop gets stranger.. (possible employee reply)
While sitting here and realizing i’ve not updated in ages , I decided to check my comments sections, It was kind of funny . I noticed a Comment sitting in moderation for my moviestop post that I had posted over a year ago. I had an problem with MovieStop, and after a few emails the situation was corrected, I thought it was spam until I decided to read it.
Policy is, if you reserve a movie they match the lowest “ADVERTISED” price. This means there has to be an in store advertisement stating the lower price. They do not match every price because they sell used movies which are always lower than any other store’s new prices. Sounds to me like you are one of those customers that all retail employees hate to have to service. You think that you should get the best deal even though the policy is different than what you want. Maybe step down from your high horse and come join the rest of us on planet earth.
Maybe I’m on a High horse maybe I’m not, but this comment is basically an attack, let me break this one down.
- Policy is, if you reserve a movie they match the lowest “ADVERTISED” price.
From my previous post: Before Leaving the Moviestop lot I had checked the window to see that there was a Large sign in yellow with black large letters “GUARANTEED LOWEST ADVERTISED PRICES”. When i had asked regarding this sign in the front of the store windows the person claimed that there was an asterisk in the sign on the front of the store. Checking the sign again there was No asterisk no Limitation no claim to see in store for details Nothing noting of any policy of what this person had spoke of.This item was new, and the price I saw was ADVERTISED, It was in the best buy flier for the same week.
- This means there has to be an in store advertisement stating the lower price.
See above
- They do not match every price because they sell used movies which are always lower than any other store’s new prices.
That’s a given but, I purchased this product new. generally used products fall under different rules which are printed in stores (Or at least gamestops that I’ve been too).
- Sounds to me like you are one of those customers that all retail employees hate to have to service. You think that you should get the best deal even though the policy is different than what you want.
Now your getting a little snippy here, As far as being hated by retail employees, I don’t think so, Now i’ve been nice up to this point. I’m sure a lot of gamestop/moviestop employees are not like you, Hell I know my gamestop/moviestop managers and they know me but,you are a gamestop/moviestop employee In richmond, VA area, who has no clue what went on and are assuming the customer is always wrong, I never believe the customer is always “right” but, there is a happy medium. That right there is the first sign of bad customer service, Secondly I pointed out the sign issue, most states have laws saying they are bound by what the sign says unless its a grievously bad error, also by the federal trade commision .
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the main federal agency that enforces advertising laws and regulations. Under the Federal Trade Commission Act:
- Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive;
- Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and
- Advertisements cannot be unfair.
But to get this kind of treatment almost a year later is kind of low, I’ve been mostly nice through this post but if MovieStop employees really think they are god to obviously which you think you are, you need to really sit down and think! How do i want my store to be and how can I keep people coming back to my store. Not find a post on the internet and bash the person because what you believe is right, quite simply you need to educate your customers and educate your self and CORRECT problems when you see them, If you store has a sign that says
“GUARANTEED LOWEST ADVERTISED PRICES”.
But, the sign only refers to preorders, The sign is incorrect! You need to correct the sign because the sign says quite different from the actual given “policy”. A better sign would be
“GUARANTEED LOWEST ADVERTISED PRICES ON PRE-ORDERS: See inside for details”.
After this I think moviestop is on the shitlist again.
Console Gaming without a TV part V (Samsung 2333HD monitor)
From my last post I had talked about getting a new Monitor and retiring the Wii VGA cable . The thing is the post was getting to the epic dictionary size so I felt the need to make another post, After doing much research after my first failed attempt at getting a monitor I noticed they were making Monitors with TV tuners built on to them. Personally I don’t want a TV with a VGA input on it for many reasons, TV generally have very limited resolutions as far as computers are concerned.
Looking around I stumbled upon Samsungs lines of monitors with TV Tuners built in, the T2#0HD line of monitors are basically monitors with an HD Tuner built in. I like the idea of a monitor that has a built in TV tuner, It removes the need for a TV and also it is more convienent for me, The major problem with these monitors is there fucking imposible to find locally in a store, best buy has them on there site but there all WEB ONLY which is a pile of moose shit, they went you to purchase a TV rather than taking more convienent route of getting a monitor with built in tuner.
After the fun I had with the Samsung 2253BW, I just for the hell of it looked at TV’s on the Office Depot site- which hit me with a profound yet silly answer– I had to look twice because the model number did not make sense- Samsung 2333HD 23″ Widescreen LCD HDTV? Wait a sec.. 2333HD? And I just had a 2253 ? and the T220HD ????? What the.. going to google it made alot more sense after. The model number didn’t look like a HDTV Model number, after dealing with a TV problem in the house that needed to be replaced I became familiar with model numbers. Usually a model number from samsung for a monitor would be ####AB where-as tv’s used a much differnt sequence like – Samsung LN26A450. The only exception I’ve found was the T###HD monitor line, which is still much different than any model numbers for TV’s.
Comparing the T220HD to the 2333HD yielded another interesting result. The 2333hd Can goto 1080p while the T220HD could only achieve 720p. After a call to Office Depot I manages to get the 2333HD.
For A TV analog channels do look a little fuzzy but on HD channels this monitor really shines, as for the Wii, It Removes the need for a VGA cable, it also has enough inputs to not clusterfuck the back of the pc with inputs and outputs. The sound from the built-in speakers is very tinny. The easy fix is to use the optical out on the back of the monitor which provides excellent sound through a Stereo reciever. As for the wii using a RGB Component in with the audio inputed in through the TV Also is a huge bonus (less cables all over the place).
As for the monitor end of things the monitor give an excellent response time for gaming with no noticeable trails or other things that would otherwise annoy you. Also the monitor goes into standby when you turn the PC off which is the BIGGEST thing I wanted and the reason I did not want to buy a TV. When you turn off a TV with a PC connected 95% of the time your left with a screen that says “no signal” and your just wasting power. the 2333HD does not do that after you shut down your PC the monitor happily goes to standby.
the Images look great as far as I’m concerned and this really is the best of both worlds when considering your options for a setup for a console without a TV.
Console Gaming without a TV part IV (Samsung 2253BW monitor)
I’ve written in the past about not having a TV to play Console games on , And through many trials I settled on the VD-W2 Wii VGA cable. The cable definitely served its purpose, after trying many TV Cards that just could not hold up to console gaming I decided to try that cabled on a whim. Honestly it was one of the best things I bought to use with my monitor. So if you have a small room and do not want to deal with the annoyences of TV Card or having a TV and a Computer monitor in the same room with your console and PC, The Vdigi Wii VGA Cable is worth the buy!
well….
The cable earned its retirement after almost a year of faithful service, I had given away one of my monitors due to the fact we still had a monstrosity of a CRT monitor in the house, That given, It started me on a new quest.
To find a monitor to fit my needs….
Since I was using both the VGA and the DVI inputs that meant I needed a monitor to have at least 2 inputs. The last time I had purchased a monitor was 2007 and, I was not sure exactly sure how things have changed in that technology.
Well I took a little crash course.
(click more to read on)
Media.. A bit late for halloween and early on april fools about the economy.
<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { so-language: zxx } –>I’ve been following the economy for awhile. Yes, we are in a bad downturn but, what gets me is the media.. Rather than being somewhat neutral to the issue they are betting on the apocalypse. There aim has me confused. rather than trying to see both sides of an issue they are aiming for getting average Joe into a clustfuck frenzy. Take Time Magazine for an example.
The 171 banks on the FDIC’s “problem list” encompass only about 2 percent of the nearly 8,500 FDIC-insured institutions. Still, the increase from 117 in the second quarter is sharp, and the current tally is the highest since late 1995. (See pictures of the stock market crash of 1929.)
OK.. first off 171 banks out of 8500 A whole 2% (2.011%).. WOW… but look at the eye-catcher here. “See Pictures of the Stock market Crash of 1928” what the fuck? stock market.. ? yet the article is speaking about FDIC insured banks? Why not just throw in some pictures of nukes while we are at it .
Reading further into the article you will also see.
The FDIC said total assets held by troubled institutions climbed from $78.3 billion to $115.6 billion — a figure that suggests that the nation’s top 20 banks aren’t on the list, even though they are getting slammed, too, by the growing credit crisis. The FDIC does not reveal the names of the institutions it deems troubled. (See pictures of the recession of 1958.)
Nice even though the top 20 banks are not on the list we would like to remind you something that happened 50 years ago k thx. Sure the economy is in a downturn but due to deregulation and other things the market to my belief is overinflated the fuck outta. Big businesses have been having a field day trying to break down things and increasing the cost of everything , Im surprised they have not added a device to count your farts for some sort of health diet. The way the banks have gone I saw it coming but I was never sure when this was going to hit , Back about 2 years ago i was getting credit card applications on a daily basis and when i saw this I only thought to myself “this is going to end well”. The banks got themselves into this situation and now they are screaming for help when what they did came back to bite them in the ass like a bear chasing a man coated in beef and Honey.
What is Ironic to me is rather than help the people who are directly affected by this the banks got bailed out and the people who have lost there houses have not, So what the hell. I mean thats like helping out a drunk driver rather than the person he hit. Honestly this 700billion dollar bailout stinks like hell and more and more companies and businesses are jumping on the ME TOO bandwagon even though they have caused these issues on there own, Car makers… Rather than make fuel efficient cars they kept coming out with beastly huge ass cars that got 0.1 mile to the gallon, when oil peaked this year they did not adjust there strategy to cope with the situation.
If you follow crude oil prices they had at least 5 years of forewarning. Other car makers adjusted around the time oil started spiking, and they are not nearly as bad off as US car makers. Oil companies keep posting these all time record profits and yet every time they say it has nothing to do with them ripping off people by gouging them which makes no sense.
My opinion here.. Sure it sounds bad but, Let these companies fail. its a hard lesson but rather than propping them up Every time they decide to have drunken bender of loaning out billions to people who honestly could not afford it, i think the banks should have some responsibility here. Same with the Car companies. Every time i hear bailout these days I cringe because, these bailouts are not working as intended. Bail out the average Joe rather than these companies. Don’t even put the money in there hands just say hey your mortgage is payed for x months, and give them a contract that says they have to either straighten up finances or get out of dodge.
Attack of the Christmas part II
Two days ago I posted about the Christmas Creep well, Today I went to mall to discover unfortunately how bad how the Christmas Creep was. It’s not a creep anymore. Its the christmas War on Holidays, the casualties so far .. Halloween, Thanksgiving and anything inbetween. From the front lines which I’ve personally witnessed and My friend david whom was overwelmed at the scene and cried on sight..
Corporations are destroying Christmas, People are already starting to be worn out of the meaningless push on wanting consumers to buy useless shit for christmas.
I dont mind so much about the week after thanksgiving for Christmas, but NOW? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO go away get out.. GTFO…
The Christmas Creep isnt the creep anymore its the Attack of the christmas.
I am starting to get annoyed with christmas already and thats a new record. retail stores have Had christmas shit out since september, and really I dont know what these stores are thinking because its blisteringly retarded. Since retailers have started so early its already having and effect on people , I’ve heard the ”
oh fuck Christmas is coming and i don’t have money for this”
A Wal-Mart Stores-sponsored survey this year found that three in 10 so-called Wal-Mart moms planned to start their Christmas shopping three months early.
Maybe because there christmas shit was up 5 months early? I noticed in late august the local wallyworld had christmas stuff out in the back corner of the store. retail stores have gone as far as to moving “black friday” to the day after halloween. Thats all we need parents with there kids cracked out on sugar in stores yay!
On cue, retailers — all bracing for what looks to be the worse holiday shopping season in two decades — are taking those statistics to heart, with Wal-Mart leading the pack. The world’s largest retailer was first out of the gate on Oct. 1 — yes Oct. 1 — to slash prices on select toys, beating its own record for an early start.
I know the econimy is bad but what the fuck? lets make it WORSE by blowing money we dont have on a Holiday 2 months away ? Sure that helps retailers but does not help out people scraping by on next to nothing. Stores are mutating halloween into something actaully scary Halloweemas .. as weird as that sounds you can find “halloween Trees”
This year with christmas is like watching dead flys fuck. I cant wiat for this season to be over with . Thankfully they have not started with the christmas music at stores , i think when they do i am going to just wear earplugs till january ..
700 billion dollar bail out stinks.
The Federal government has just authorized a 700 billion dollar bailout for banks, and immediatly I had my concerns about this. Did the banks do anything to improve there situation , Fuck No. Instead they are right back to there old ways.
Reason i say this, My phone rang yesterday, I look at the caller ID and said what the hell! It was Washing mutaul, Now just for the pure sake of curiousity i answered the phone and was greeted to a Credit Card offer.. WaMu was offering me a credit card which i couldnt help but to inquire more on .
This is seriously stupid.